Video: It’s Not Easy Being Green But Mt. Lorette Course At K-Country Has Fought Back

The Mt. Lorette course at Kanananaskis Country Golf Course reached a milestone last week when grassing was competed in reconstruction efforts following a devastating flood in Southern Alberta four years ago.

“It’s pretty amazing”, said head professional Bob Paley.

“To stand here on the Mt. Lorette layout as it looks today, thinking that just 12 months from now, there will be golfers enjoying this course once again is incredible,” he added.

Paley and general manager Darren Robinson would become a central figure in a period of damage evaluation, consultation and detailed planning, some of it during political wrangling as the provincial government determined the course’s future.

“It’s been at times distressing, of course as you consider what this course means to not only a team that calls Kananaskis home, but to the many generations of Albertans that we’ve seen make the trip to play a round here, season after season,” said Paley.

“This course has been a place to unplug, be challenged as a player, and spend quality time in K-Country,” he added.

“We know from our golfers that the course has been a place that’s been passed down from generation to generation, somewhere Albertans have counted on as their own. To now be so close to giving all that back, well, we’re just honoured to be a part of it,” he said.

General Manager Darren Robinson shares Paley’s thoughts.

“For me, this point in our restoration signals the future of Kananaskis Country Golf Course and I look forward to seeing the many rounds of golf that will be played right here,” said Robinson.

“As a team, the restoration has been our focus for the past four years. We’ve together lived every moment of it, but despite the stress, the long days, the uncertainty of the course’s future and the sadness of seeing desolate grounds where hundreds of golfers once played, it’s all been so unbelievably worth it,” he said/

The final phase of Kananaskis Country Golf Course’s restoration will be completed over the duration of the current season, ready for the course to fully reopen to the public in 2018.

The next stage in the preparation of the Mt. Lorette course will be the undertaking of some peripheral work, with the new grass also requiring some natural grow-in and maturation time.

With Kananaskis Country Golf Course once hosting over 60,000 rounds of golf per season, the comeback of the course is highly anticipated by local businesses.

The opening of the course also coincides with a full renovation of nearby hotel property, the Delta Kananaskis Lodge, owned by the Pomeroy Group.

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